The Presidential Library’s new virtual tour illustrates the move of the Russian capital from Petrograd to Moscow

24 October 2018

Why was it decided to move the capital from Petrograd to Moscow in spring of 1918 and who was behind this initiative? How did such a large-scale move take place and what did they take away first? The visitor of the Presidential Library’s portal will find answers to these and other questions thanks to a virtual tour of the exhibition “Journey from Petrograd to Moscow. 1918: marking 100th anniversary of the relocation of the Soviet government and the move of the capital to Moscow", which was demonstrated in the building on Senate Square from March 12 to May 12, 2018.

Virtual tour reflects real exhibition. Unique archival records tell about the circumstances of the relocation of the heads of young country, commissariats and other important administrative and political structures, about the numerous difficulties that the Soviet government faced; from them it is possible to find out what Petrograd experienced then, having lost its capital status. Multimedia maps will help to understand where the central government institutions were located in pre-revolutionary Petrograd and where they are located in Moscow. Historical event is recreated by newsreel footage and documentary films.

The exhibition “Journey from Petrograd to Moscow. 1918: marking 100th anniversary of the relocation of the Soviet government and the move of the capital to Moscow” was another exhibition that moved from real space to digital. Today on the portal of the Presidential Library, you can remotely visit the exhibitions “North-West of Russia: Two Regions - One History. Marking the 90th anniversary of Leningrad Region and the 80th anniversary of Vologda Region” and “The Saving Sword of the Revolution": Chekist in Life, Cinema and Literature" dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first Soviet state security body - the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Speculation and Sabotage (Cheka).

Among other interactive projects of the Presidential Library are excursions of the legendary cruiser Aurora and the State Memorial Museum of the Defence and Blockade of Leningrad, the exposition of which was forever dismantled in spring of 2018 before thorough overall and is now available only in the virtual space.

The Presidential Library's portal visitors staying anywhere in the world, can walk through the historic building of the Synod, where a modern multifunctional cultural, study and research center is housed today, visit the Constitution Hall, learn materials of the constantly enriching interactive exposition and telling about revolutionary events in Petrograd.